UM6P, Start-Up Nation Central to Support Startup Growth in Morocco, Israel

Rabat – A delegation from Morocco’s Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) visited Tel Aviv-based Start-Up Nation Central this week to advance innovation and startup ecosystems in both countries.

The meeting follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the two parties in May in Casablanca during the “Connect to Innovate” Conference.

The three-day visit aims to encourage knowledge sharing between universities and industry leaders, connect the startup communities in both countries, and exchange learning experiences to build innovation ecosystems in both countries.

The visit highlights the progress of diplomatic and economic relations between Rabat and Tel Aviv over the past years, particularly in vital sectors such as innovation, research, trade, and security.

According to the Head of Morocco’s Liaison Office in Tel Aviv Abderrahim Bayoudh, the “natural” connection between the two countries “must be developed for the benefit of developing ties” given that “business opportunities that exist between Israeli innovation and the business and academic ecosystem in Morocco are vast.”

Echoing Bayoudh’s statement, Start-Up Nation Central CEO Avi Hasson said that “Israel and Morocco are natural partners when it comes to building a MENA innovation ecosystem,” adding that the partnership with UM6P “lay[s] the groundwork for the dually beneficial venture for our joint economies.”

Director of Entrepreneurship and Venturing at UM6P Yassine Laghzioui further argued that the Morocco-Israel partnership is beneficial to the economic development of the MENA region.

“Bridging the Israeli Startup up Ecosystem with its counterparts in Morocco and Africa may unleash huge potential and benefit both regions,” Laghzioui commented.

As Africa calls for supporting innovative solutions to address pressing issues such as food insecurity, water scarcity, and the lack of access to energy, the continent’s startup ecosystem can benefit from the experience of leading innovation hubs such as Tel Aviv.

Casablanca, an emerging regional challenger, according to Startup Genome’s 2022 Global Startup Ecosystem Report, is working on advancing the national startup ecosystem to introduce innovative and potentially life-changing solutions with a special focus on fintech and agritech solutions to address the needs of the unbanked population and the country’s climate-impacted agriculture.

However, the Moroccan startup ecosystem remains small in terms of the number of startups and concluded deals compared to its Israeli counterpart.

Despite the existing support from state programs as well as local and international venture capital and angel investors, the Moroccan startup ecosystem is in its early phases of development with most startups belonging to the pre-seed or seed stages with the exception of a few that reached series A.

In this context, the exposure of the Moroccan startups to more mature ecosystems in Israel or other countries such as India could be instrumental in developing the national ecosystem as well as establishing potential long-term partnerships between Moroccan startups and their peers abroad.